


Black Hole

by TheSovereigntyofReality



Series: Time Travelling Son [5]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Gen, Portals, Team Stark, black holes, hand-wavey comic science, space travel, the space stone
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-17
Updated: 2019-12-17
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:07:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,409
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21836446
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheSovereigntyofReality/pseuds/TheSovereigntyofReality
Summary: It's time to get rid of the Infinity Stone.Howard and Jarvis might need a stiff drink after this.
Relationships: Edwin Jarvis & Howard Stark & Original Female Character(s), Howard Stark & Maria Stark & Tony Stark, The Ancient One & Original Female Character(s)
Series: Time Travelling Son [5]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1565638
Comments: 36
Kudos: 619





	Black Hole

‘They’ve got a spot,’ Hazel said. ‘And they’ve got a way.’

‘So, let me see if I understand this correctly,’ Jarvis said. ‘We’re going to stand on the surface of an abandoned planet, and launch this thing at the Black Hole which led to the planet being deserted in the first place?’

‘Problem?’ Hazel asked.

‘How far away is the Black Hole?’ Howard asked.

‘Far enough that we have to launch the Infinity Stone at it.’

Howard shrugged and grinned. ‘Good enough for me.’ He looked up at her. ‘So, how did you intend to get us there?’

‘Oh, that’s in the hands of the Masters of the Mystic Arts,’ Hazel said.

Howard froze. ‘I’m sorry. The _who_?’

‘Oh, didn’t I tell you?’ Hazel asked, flippantly. ‘The order the Ancient One heads is called the Masters of the Mystic Arts.’

‘You’re kidding, right?’ Howard asked.

‘Hey, they’re ancient,’ Hazel pointed out. ‘How do you suppose they founded?’

‘And they haven’t changed their name since?’ Jarvis asked doubtfully.

‘Well, when you can scientifically explain...’ As if on cue, a glowing golden portal opened up, swirling and sparking, causing both Howard and Jarvis to jump back with a yelp. Then a figure dressed in yellow robes stepped through. Hazel smirked. ‘...that, feel free to offer suggestions.’

The person’s lips were seen to quirk, under the hood, for just a moment. Then the person pushed back the hood to reveal a bald woman. ‘Everything is ready.’

‘Air’s breathable?’ Hazel asked, standing up.

‘It’ll be thin, but still breathable.’

‘That’ll do, I suppose.’ Hazel stood up and grabbed the case containing the Infinity Stone. This particular case was see-through and had a hand-hold so it could be clearly seen and safely handled at all times. Hazel stopped at the portal and grinned at the two men. ‘Do you intend to sit there all day, or find out if this portal really goes where the Ancient One here says it goes?’

Howard stumbled to his feet and just about ran over to it. He stopped short though, and experimentally reached out. His hand went right through the portal. He quickly withdrew it and looked at his hand, which was perfectly normal. Then, ever so slowly, Howard stepped through. Jarvis, very hesitantly, followed him.

‘Scientists are the most fun,’ Hazel solemnly informed the Ancient One before following them through with far more confidence and far less apprehension.

The Ancient One’s lips quirked slightly again and she followed her through before closing the portal. Hazel chuckled as she watched the two men look around in astonishment. They stood in what looked like a barren wasteland. Partially collapsed buildings, broken windows, torn up streets and odd-looking vehicles abandoned in a mess all around them.

‘This looks like a bad apocalypse movie,’ Hazel remarked. ‘Or is that just me wanting to believe people wouldn’t really riot upon an Armageddon Event?’

‘Panic would take hold of most people, certainly,’ the Ancient One remarked, taking the case from her. ‘And some of that, I imagine, is the result of meteors and asteroids hitting the planet. With all the chaos that would have been caused, I’m rather surprised this planet is in as good of shape as it is.’

‘I expect it won’t last long?’ a Chinese man said.

The Ancient One nodded. ‘Do not look directly into the Black Hole.’

Hazel looked up but, as she was told, not directly into it. It looked like a swirling field of...nothingness, even in her upper peripheral vision. And even like that it made her feel very small and very uneasy. ‘I take it looking directly into a Black Hole is a bit much for mortal brains.’

‘It is,’ the Ancient One said as she set the case down on top of a flat piece of rubble. ‘Even one as distant as that.’

***

Howard watched, all of this feeling a bit surreal. Except for the fact that the air was, yes, thin, and he could smell a burnt odour permeating the air. There was also the fact that, yes, there was a Black Hole directly above them. He’d be fascinated by that, but he was more fascinated by the vehicles beyond anything on Earth – totalled and just left, sure, but there.

That was all the convincing he needed.

Howard looked over at Hazel. For all her expression, it may has well have been the lead-up to New Years Fireworks. Looking over at the – _Okay!_ – Masters of the Mystic Arts, he watched as they all gathered in a circle around the Infinity Stone. Most of them kept their hoods up, but there were enough whose faces he could see that he could say with certainty that they did not hold power in a single nation.

Hazel looked over at him. ‘You look a bit better.’ Her eyes darted over. ‘Can’t say the same for Jarvis.’

Howard looked over and smiled as he saw his butler white in the face and looking around as if he wasn’t quite seeing what was in front of him.

‘I think he’s gonna need a brandy when we get home,’ Howard mused.

Hazel chuckled. ‘At least.’

A golden glow out of his peripheral vision pulled Howard’s attention. The Order members were standing around, hands out. Howard noticed that the fingers of their hands were folded in a particular way with their forefingers extended. They moved their hands in practiced and methodical ways. As they did so, golden rings formed underneath the Infinity Stone in its case.

Howard frowned. There had to be some kind of scientific explanation. It wouldn’t work otherwise. But, for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out one that made sense. Still, if it spared Tony from having to deal with this – and having to deal with this Thanos character – then he’d take a little frustration at the sheer impossibility of this whole ordeal. That wasn’t too much of a trade-off.

Then it was like a transparent pillar, lined with gold writing in some unknown language, shot up underneath it, launching the Space Stone into the sky. It flew up and up and up. There was no way to measure how far up it went but it continued going up for a good five minutes whilst they all stood there, watching.

There was an explosion of blue around the Black Hole and then the pillar dispersed.

‘What was that?’ Hazel asked.

‘Discharge,’ the Ancient One said. ‘That was the Space Stone. It won’t be condensed in there, as most other matter would be, but it will be nearly impossible to extract.’

Howard looked up as one of the other Order members began using the golden glowing circles to look for something in the air. There was now a very faint blue glow around the Black Hole. ‘Space Stone?’ That would suggest that Hazel was right and maybe the Red Skull wasn’t dead. Maybe he’d just been transported out in an extremely painful way. ‘So, what effect is that gonna have?’

‘Not an awful lot,’ the Chinese man said. ‘It’ll give that particular Black Hole a faint blue colour, and people might be able to work out there’s an Infinity Stone in it from that, but it’ll just continue like any other Black Hole.’

**Earth**  
‘So, that’s it?’ Maria asked as Hazel pulled a soda out of the fridge. ‘Tony won’t have a problem with this guy now?’

‘Can’t promise that,’ Hazel said. ‘This guy’s a galaxy-wide tyrant. If he decides to come here, there’s not a lot we can do about that. But not having the Tesseract, I’m hoping, will keep Tony from being of personal interest to him.’

‘You and me both,’ Howard said, walking into the kitchen.

‘How’s Jarvis?’ Hazel asked with a slight laugh in her voice.

‘He’s asleep.’ Howard chuckled. ‘I’m half-convinced that when he wakes up, he’ll have convinced himself it was all just a dream.’ He grinned widely. ‘But we were under a Black Hole!’

‘That’s not something to get excited about, Howard,’ his wife told him.

‘On an alien planet!’ he insisted.

Maria chuckled. ‘Okay, maybe that’s something to get excited about.’

Hazel chuckled too. ‘So, what did you have in mind for your next move?’

‘I’m gonna destroy those tapes,’ Howard said. ‘No reason for Tony to ever have to worry about this. But I’m gonna get the tapes from everything else on that day. See if there’s anything else I need on them.’

Hazel nodded.


End file.
